Every Christmas Eve my family and I all gather together at my Abuela’s house to eat, play games, and participate in our Posada. Since I was little my family and I have been doing the Posada every year on Christmas Eve. For those who do not know, a Posada is a festive holiday celebration practiced in Mexico. It is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph’s journey in search of shelter in Bethlehem. The story goes that they traveled to many places seeking shelter for the night because Mary is about to give birth to Jesus.

We start off by grabbing our candles and guitars then we break into groups of two. One group is outside in front of the screen door and the other group is inside. We sing songs that narrate the couple’s journey as we move from one place to another– different rooms, and even outdoors “visit” different places asking for a room to escape the cold night. 

When we complete the journey and finish the song, we quietly enter the living room and wait for everyone to get their rosaries out. Three of my aunts and two of my uncles take turns saying one decade (ten beads) of the rosary in Spanish and in English. After the final decade, we have a moment of silence to remember our family members who have passed. 

To close our ceremony, my two middle cousins sit on the floor and hold a tray that holds a little glass figurine of the baby Jesus. The little figure is surrounded by little candies. Everyone approaches the little glass figure as one by one, we kiss baby Jesus and select a piece of candy. Once everyone has gone through, we enjoy the homemade tamales and menudo my family prepared for the posada, and we share stories and recall favorite memories. 

Some DHS students participate in the same traditions and really enjoy spending quality time with their families. 

“My family always gather together and make tamales for Christmas,” junior Amayia Macias said. “My favorite thing is to eat them with my cousins on Christmas day.”

Junior Louis Perez has a long family history of keeping Christmas traditions alive. On December 23rd, we have a posada at the house and we serve champurrado with buñuelos, hojarascas, and tamales de dulce. But my grandma makes me go outside because I’m a bad little kid and I play around with my cousins, so I never get to see what’s going on inside.” Perez added, “But now that I’m older and more mature, I will stay and see what goes on inside.”